Oak Ridge eyes playoff spot

MIKE TAYLOR

Published 7:00 pm, Tuesday, August 19, 2008

In his three seasons at Oak Ridge, coach Bob Barrett has seen his team win one, seven and four games.

With a slew of returning starters and talented players set to line up all over the field, the War Eagles have reason to believe that see-sawing trend will continue this year with its scheduled upward arc.

If it does, Oak Ridge could bounce back from last year’s winless district campaign with its first trip to the state playoffs since 2006.

“If we’re healthy when we get to district, we’ve got a great opportunity to make the playoffs,” Barrett said. “That was the key that crushed us last year. We got beat up and we started juggling people all over the place and we lost any continuity, especially on the defense but even on offense a little bit trying to patchwork where we lost people.”

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The defense was Oak Ridge’s weak link last year, allowing 336.1 yards per game. To address that problem, Barrett and his staff oversaw a change in the offseason from a 4-3 base defense to a 3-4.

“We switched over based on the skill set of the athletes that we currently have, plus the sets that we see coming down in our system,” Barrett said. “We also like some of the flexibility that the 3-4 gives us.”

Outside linebacker Jay Buchanan and his half-brother and nose tackle Tevin Henderson (box, right) will be two of the keys to the revamped defense. Six other starters return, but will have to address last year’s poor performance.

“We know we have to improve on defense,” Barrett said. “Some of these guys have got to step up or they’ll be seeing some people coming in after their spots.”

Buchanan will see playing time on offense as well as defense, lining up at wide receiver and quarterback. He also will return kicks for the War Eagles, after leading the district last year with three touchdowns and a long runback of 94 yards.

On the offensive side of the ball, four of Oak Ridge’s five linemen return. That experience will be important as first-year starter Ryan Cyr takes over at quarterback. Also helping Cyr make the adjustment to varsity football with be running back Fredie Dotson, District 15-5A’s sophomore of the year in 2007, and senior wide receiver Charles Agugua.

Dotson, who split carries with two other since departed backs in Oak Ridge’s flexbone offense, ranked eighth among district backs with 602 rushing yards.

Further stoking the War Eagle fire is that they host the inaugural matchup at Woodforest Bank Stadium, which is so close to the school’s campus it could be called the War Eagles’ Nest. Oak Ridge will christen the new facility against Caney Creek Thursday night.

Playoff appearances: In most recent appearance, Oak Ridge lost to Klein Oak in 2006 first round

Notes: Former first assistant and offensive coordinator Drew Svoboda took head coaching position at Klein Collins…Jeff Bailey comes from Klein Collins as the new first assistant…long-time Oak Ridge coach Kevin Solberg is the new offensive coordinator…two-year Oak Ridge assistant Adrian Mitchell takes over for Lonnie Madison as defensive coordinator…Barrett is 12-19 in three years at Oak Ridge after 1-9 season in 2005 and 7-4 season in 2006.

Brothers lead experienced Oak Ridge ‘D’

When the Oak Ridge War Eagles defense makes a stop this season, the two guys most likely to be at the bottom of the pile will know each other well.

Seniors, half-brothers and fellow Big 12 recruits Jay Buchanan and Tevin Henderson will lead a unit that ranked last in District 15-5A in 2007, but has eight returning starters.

“We did not play very well defensively last year at times and now we’ve got some experienced guys back there,” Oak Ridge head coach Bob Barrett said. “Scheme-wise we’ve changed some things up that we think should help our players.”

Chief among those moves is a switch from a 4-3 base defense to a 3-4, with the sturdy Henderson (6-2, 250) stationed at nose tackle and the athletic Buchanan (6-0, 185) manning one outside linebacker spot.

Henderson is changing positions from defensive end, while Buchanan will also line up as a wide receiver, quarterback and kick returner.

“It’s pretty good to know I have a brother back there who is going to handle anything that gets past me and the D-line,” Henderson said.

Henderson is the only War Eagle who played on Oak Ridge’s last playoff team, in 2006.

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“I was on the team the ‘06 season when we went to the playoffs, but we only went to the first round,” Henderson said. “One of my goals is to take the team further than the first round in the playoffs.